Manually operated vegetation clipper



399 E95@ Q. '1t Noma-muis? 25349924- MANUALLY @PERM-En vEGEmTIoN cLPPER Filed Feb. 5, 1948 I N VEN TOR. Q5/06H66 j? wmf/WMS? www@ Patented Dec.. 19, 1950 MANUALLY ornnerrnn vnonfra'rion emersa Clarence T. Northqnist, Seattle, Wash., assignor of one-third to George 0. Brown, Seattle, Wash., and one-third to Lilah Brown Johnson,

Minneapolis, Minn.

Application February 5, 1948, Serial No. 6,519

2 Claims.

l This invention relates to a manually operated clipper for use in cutting or trimming vegetation such as grass, weeds, shrubbery, hedges and the like.

An object of this invention is to provide a manually operated clipper for lawn and yard use which will reduce fatigue on the part of the user and speed up the kind of lawn work ordinarily done with a lawn clipper or shear.

`Manually operated lawn clippers or shears of the type now in common use are tiring as they often require the operator to bend over for long periods of time or to get down on his hands and knees or to sit or lie on the ground to do the required work.

It is an object of this invention to provide a clipper which can be operated with ease from a l standing position, thus obviating the necessity for bending over or getting down on the ground ly increase the effective reach of the user and make it possible to trim vegetation that can not easily be reached with an ordinary clipper,

such as trimming grass under and around shrubbery or trimming vegetation too high for a person to reach.

Another object is to provide a manually operable lawn clipper or shear which can be operv ated Without subjecting the hands of the user 'Ito a severe gripping strain.

Another object of this invention is to provide v a manually operable clipper' or shear in which two shear blades are positioned approximately crosswise of and at an angle to two relatively long handles so that the handles can be operated by a person standing erect to open and close the blades for cutting purposes when the blades are on or near the ground.

Other objects of the invention are to provide j, a manually operated clipper that is simple and ,y durable in construction, eiiicient in use, easy to y' operate and not expensive to manufacture.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a clipper con- Aj st ructed in accordance with this invention, showing the clipper blades in a closed or over lapped position.

lig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the same partly 2 in section and partly in elevation taken substantially on broken line 2 2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view looking down on the clipper blades and showing said blades in a partly open position.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan View similar to Fig. 3 showing a handle of modified shape and showing the blades of the clipper fully open.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing pivot joint means by which two clipper blades are connected together.

Fig. 6 is a View partly in section and partly in elevation showing pivot joint means used to connect a handle with a blade..

Like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the several views.

These shears comprise two blades, herein termed an upper shear blade lil and a lower shear blade ll. Preferably each shear bladeV lli and Il is rounded at one end and pointed at the other end and the coacting edges of theseblades are sharpened. Preferably the lower blade il has a downwardly offset portion adjacent its rounded end to help provide space for pivot means used to connect the two blades and to provide better spring action for holding cutting edges of the blades in contact with each other. This downwardly offset portion of the lower blade il comprises a downwardly inclined section I2 andl a terminal section i3 which parallel to the blades it and H.

The pivot means shown in Fig. 5 for connecting the two shear blades Iii and il comprises a bolt lil secured by two nuts l5 and it to the terminal section i of the lower blade H. The bolt lli is operable in a sleeve Il which is secured by two nuts I8 and l to the upper shear blade A y cap vor washer 2t is provided on the upper end portion 25 of the Cotter pin 2i, This connects one end of the spring 22 with the lower shear blade l! and the other end oi the spring 22 with the upper shear blade l? for torsion purposes.

' The spring 2?. is arranged so that `it will a torque tending to move the two blades it and Il into a closed or overlapping position.

Also this spring 22 operates as a compression spring between the cap 29 and the top nut I8 to provide a resilient pressure which tends to urge the two blades I and II together. The lower end portion of the sleeve l1 engages the nut I5 and these two parts I1 and I5 function as stop means to limit the movement toward eachother of the two blade members i8 and II. Obviously adjustment between the blades II! and II is provided by adjusting either the two nuts I5 and I6 or the two nuts I8 and I9. The sleeve I1 provides a relatively long bearing for the bolt I4 and this helps to provide an efiicient and durable pivot joint.

Two handle members 26 and 21 are connected respectively with the top shear blade IG and bottom shear blade II. The handle 21 has a hook shaped lower end portion 28 the tip of which extends under the bottom of the lower blade Il and is rigidly secured to said blade I I. The hook l shaped portion 28 extends upwardly from the blade I I and across said blade and the handle 21 is positioned generally crosswise of the axis of the blade II and extends rearwardly from said blade II and upwardly from the plane of said blade II preferably at an angle of from forty to fifty degrees.

The other handle 26 is pivotally connected with the top blade I0, as by means more fully shown in Fig. 6. This pivot means comprises a bracket 29 rigidly secured to the blade I0, a bolt 30 secured by nuts 3| and 32 to the bracket 29, a compression spring 33, preferably two washers 34 and 35, and a nut 36 on the upper end portion of the bolt 30. The lower end portion of the handle 26 is ilat and has a hole 31 therein. The hole 31 is of larger diameter than the bolt 30 and fits over said bolt 30. The flat part of the handle 2B rests on the nut 3I and is yieldingly held by the spring 33. The handle 26 is thus free to move rotatively on the bolt 30 and can be swingingly moved in planes common to the axis of the bolt 30 a limited amount, determined by the oversize of the hole 31. The spring 33 tends to hold the handle 26 at the properrangle.

Obviously the structure of the pivot means for connecting the handle 26 to the blade I0 can be varied.

Preferably a stop member 38 is secured to one of the blades, such as blade I0; and is positioned to engage the other blade II tolimit the relative closing movement of the two blades.

One of the blades, such as the blade II is provided with a notch 39 to facilitate the cutting of twigs, branches, and larger stems of vegetation, as hereinafter more fully explained.

To minimize interference between the fixed handle 21 and the stems or branches which are to be engaged in the notch 39 and cut I may provide at the lower end portion of the xed handle 21, see Fig. 4, a hook shaped terminal member 40 provided with a transversely curved portion 4I which is offset in the direction of the notch 39. When this is done thenotch 39 can be applied to a branch or stalk `without con- I but this type of handle can be used on grass shears if desired. The notch 39 is positioned between the pivot bolt I4 and the points of connection of the handles 26 and 21 with the blades. This provides an eiicient leverage for cutting twigs, branches and stems of larger size. If desired the notch 39 can be omitted from the blades of grass shears.

The two handles 26 and 21 are connected with the blades I0 and II approximately midway between the two ends of the blades and the points of connection of these two handles with the -blades are preferably offset for convenience of operation. The shears are held and positioned for cutting chiefly by the iixed handle 21 and the cutting is done by longitudinally reciprocating the handle 26 to move the blade I0 across the blade II. The handles 26 and 21 are long enough so that a person standing erect can position the blades on the ground and operate them. This is true both when the blades are positioned horizontally on the ground as in ordinary cutting, or vertically asin edging. Also this clipper can be used for hedge trimming at any height and for overhead trimming of small branches and leaves.

The reciprocating movement of the handle-V26 by which the blades are operated is not tiring to the user and all kinds of clipping work can be rapidly and easily done. The thrust exerted on the handle 26 to impart a cutting stroke to the yblade I0 has a component which tends to hold the blade I0 against the blade I I this insures efficient cutting and tends to keep vthe blades sharp.

The foregoing description and accompanying drawings clearly disclose a preferred embodiment of my invention but it will be understood that changes in this clipper can be made within the scope and spirit of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A clipper comprising two substantially flat horizontal shear blades pivotally connected together near one end for relative shearing movement; a rigid handle having a hook shaped lower end portion xedly secured to the lowermost shear blade substantially midway of the length of the blade and extending upwardly and over said two shear blades, the major Vportion ofV said handle being positioned substantially transverse to the length of said lowermost shear blade` and atan oblique angle to the plane thereof; and another rigid handle pivotally connected with the uppermost shear blade substantially midway of the length of the blade and operable in a position substantially parallel to said rst named handle, whereby said two handles cooperaterto impart shearing movement to said two shear blades and to hold the shearing edges of said lades in cutting engagement with each other on the cutting stroke in response to relative longitudinal movement of said two handles.

2. A manually operated vegetation clipper comprising two substantially at superposed shear blades pivotally connected together near one end for relative shearing movement, at least oneof said shear blades having a notch` in the cutting edge thereof at a substantial distance from said pivot; a rigid handle having a hook shaped lower end portion xedly secured to the underside of the lower shear blade outwardly from said notch and extending upwardly and across said shear blades, the portion of .said handle above said shear blades being transversely curved beyond said notch to provide clearance fol` stalks of vegetation to which said notch is applied, the major portion of said handle being positioned substantially transverse to the length of the shear blade to which it is connected and at an oblique angIe to the plane thereof; and 5 vREFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,501 Wendt Mar. 23, 1842 FOREIGN PATENTS 9 Number Country Date 428,784 Great Britain May 16, 1935 478,648 Great Britain Jan. 21, 1938 

